Comments on: The Age of Stupidhttp://www.windpowerhandbook.com/?p=84
Strategies for Community Organizers and ActivistsFri, 14 Jan 2011 22:38:22 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1By: Look for the “Age of Stupid” At a Theater Near You! « Green Wave Energy Corp.http://www.windpowerhandbook.com/?p=84&cpage=1#comment-98
Look for the “Age of Stupid” At a Theater Near You! « Green Wave Energy Corp.Sun, 22 Mar 2009 16:47:50 +0000http://www.windpowerhandbook.com/?p=84#comment-98[...] am grateful to Timlynn Babitsky of Windpowerbok.com (see http://www.windpowerhandbook.com/cool-stuff/extending-our-ride-on-spaceship-earth/the-age-of-stupid/) , who brought “The Age of Stupid” to everyone’s attention. It looks like it will be a good [...]
]]>By: Mark Daniel Holmeshttp://www.windpowerhandbook.com/?p=84&cpage=1#comment-97
Mark Daniel HolmesSun, 22 Mar 2009 16:33:18 +0000http://www.windpowerhandbook.com/?p=84#comment-97Hi, Timlynn:

Good to see you back in the writing saddle again. We had a nice exchange of correspondence about a month ago. But I guess the business of the world drags us away from time to time to other pursuits.

I am glad you brought “The Age of Stupid” to everyone’s attention. It looks like it will be a good film to watch. Too bad there isn’t a promtion for Earth Day — cautionary tales like this are good to throw in with the usual marketing smarm.

I was particularly taken by the quote from the website that read as follows:

“How the heck are we meant to persuade people in India and China to develop in a more sustainable way when we’re not even prepared to accept the odd windfarm in the landscape?”

I does give one pause. It is interesting that cities and towns around the United States — and other parts of the developed world are prepared to fight against ugly wind towers — because they are unsightly; but find completely acceptable hundreds of thousands of gasoline stations (Superfund sites waiting to be catalogued) fed by gasoline delivery trucks spewing tons of soot and noxious fumes, en route from the truly gigantic Superfund sites — oil refineries — that are fed by thousands of oil tankers (anyone who has seen an oil spill up close and personal can testify as to the nastiness of that).

Ironically, the owner of the building in which Green Wave Energy Corp. has its offices, the soon-to-be-renamed “Newport Yacht Centre” is completely onboard with refitting the entire Centre — multiple buildings with ofiices and restaurants and boat slips — with our solar, wind and even wave products (Newport Bay is not suitable for wave energy but we plan to stream a project we hope to build in conjunction with the city of Avalon on Catalina Island — about 20 miles away). His biggest concern, however, is that we build everything so it will not raise the ire of the owners of the residences on the hill above Newport Bay — as they vehemently oppose anything than alters their view of the Bay in any way.

It is with attitudes like these that will make the transition to clean alternative energies challenging. I think we are going to do a better job in communicating to the public that change on the massive scale that is required to wean the world off of fossil fuels is not going to be possible without at least a little compromise or accomodation. Perhaps if we point out that the real exchange is — for example — a wind tower that blocks a bit of the view for a fossil fuel network that is slowly poisoning us all, and driving us into bankruptcy and, ultimately, perhaps into societal decline, perhaps we can work together to make some change. At least that is the hope.

Thanks, Timlynn, for continuing to take us all further along on the journey. I look forward to riding along with you.